Just Around the Riverbend
by Liselle129
Summary: Princess Yue wishes to see the world, and she finally gets her wish. Yue's perspective on her life, including the events of The Waterbending Master and Siege of the North. Uses lyrics from the Disney movie Pocahontas.


Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.

Author's Note: The song "Just Around the Riverbend" is from the Disney movie Pocahontas, lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Not an exceptional film, in my opinion, but it does have great music. This is an idea that's been rolling around in my head for a very long time. I thought Yue could identify with these lyrics really well.

**Just Around the Riverbend**

_What I love most about rivers is, you can't step in the same river twice.  
The water's always changing, always flowing.  
But people, I guess, can't live like that – we all must pay a price.  
To be safe, we lose our chance of ever knowing what's around the riverbend._

Princess Yue had always loved spring at the North Pole, such as it was. The edges of the glaciers melted, creating temporary rivers that ran, clear and cold, to meet the ocean. She wasn't quite sure why she felt so drawn to these runnels. She knew that being near them could be dangerous, but perhaps it was the very power and unpredictability of the water's flow that so fascinated her.

Sometimes, Yue wished that she could see some of the world beyond the strong walls of her home. Her father always told her that it was for her safety that she had to stay here. In fact, even the men of her tribe only ventured beyond their fortresses to hunt and patrol the waters. Yue realized that she was unusual among her people for wanting to explore beyond this realm and maybe even see a real river that ran all year long.

_Waiting just around the riverbend.  
I look once more just around the riverbend,  
Beyond the shore, where the gulls fly free.  
Don't know what for, what I dream the day might send  
Just around the riverbend for me, coming for me._

Yue didn't know why she felt this indescribable restlessness. Perhaps it had something to do with her being touched by the moon spirit when she was a baby. The moon got to see the entire world, and in some ways, Yue was jealous. Maybe this was also related to why she felt a special connection to the Spirit Oasis. Aside from her relationship to the moon, the warmth and greenness whispered to her of lands far away.

When Yue stood and looked at the vast expanse of ocean beyond the walls of ice, she wondered what lay over the horizon. The ocean seemed so free, able to ebb and flow as it pleased, and it made Yue feel like a prisoner.

Visitors and stories reached the North Pole only rarely. Yue always looked forward to these events, hoping for any news of the outside world. As she progressed through her sixteenth year, however, she began to get the strange feeling that something new and special would be coming soon.

_I feel it there, beyond those trees,  
Or right behind these waterfalls.  
Can I ignore that sound of distant drumming  
For a handsome, sturdy husband who builds handsome, sturdy walls  
And never dreams that something might be coming?_

That winter, Yue's restlessness increased to nearly unbearable dimensions. She could be found more often than usual pacing the walls and bridges, constantly expecting…something. Whatever it was, it prickled at her skin and vibrated her soul.

It might have been her behavior that led Yue's father to inform her that he had accepted Hahn's offer to marry her. Maybe he thought she would be happier and better settled if she had a husband, even though it couldn't happen until after her next birthday. Naturally, Yue humbly acknowledged her father's decision. There was no thought of arguing or refusing. This was the way of her people, and she had always known her future would be decided in this manner.

Outwardly, Yue gave no sign of her inner discontent. Hahn was handsome enough, and he was generally thought to be a stable and reliable member of their community. He was a little arrogant, perhaps, but she could live with that. She had no expectations that he loved her, and she certainly didn't love him, but she'd been raised to believe that didn't matter in a marriage. In any case, none of this was the reason for her disordered feelings. She still couldn't shake the sense that something important was on its way, and it could come any day.

_Just around the riverbend, just around the riverbend.  
I look once more just around the riverbend,  
Beyond the shore, somewhere past the sea.  
Don't know what for – why do all my dreams extend  
Just around the riverbend, just around the riverbend?_

Finally, on the very day Yue turned 16, _he_ showed up. Having a large, furry creature floating through the canals was quite a novel experience, but Yue carefully observed the rules of propriety and didn't stare. She knew who it was, of course; tales of the Avatar had even managed to reach this far north, and rumors indicated he was coming here to find a waterbending teacher.

Oddly enough, though, it was not the Avatar who really struck her. Instead, when she was first introduced to the southern warrior who accompanied him, Yue felt a flare of recognition. This was the man she had been waiting for, it felt like all her life.

Sokka was not like the men of the Northern Water Tribe, although he shared their coloring and at least part of their heritage. The men Yue had grown up around all had a certain softness about them due to the North Pole's plentiful supplies and relative insulation from the war. By contrast, Sokka's leanness and the pugnacious set of his jaw spoke of a childhood filled with hardship and struggle and a manhood forced upon him too soon. Yue found him fascinating.

_Should I choose the smoothest course,  
Steady as the beating drum?  
Should I marry Kokoum?  
Is all my dreaming at an end?_

The timing was all wrong, though. Yue was already engaged to another man, and Sokka couldn't devote himself to her, anyway, at least not right now. His duty was to the Avatar, and hers was to her people. All of the things Yue believed in became challenged through this visit, both by Katara's bold fight with Master Pakku and by Yue's own rapidly forming feelings for Sokka.

Princess Yue didn't know what to do. She couldn't just tell her father to break a marriage contract, and Sokka was in no position to offer a new one even if she could. The situation seemed hopeless. She began to wonder if it would have been better if Sokka had never come at all. In the end, it was almost a relief to have the choice completely taken away from her. She gave her life to the moon, and no other decisions were necessary.

Without meeting Sokka and Katara, Yue didn't think she would have had the courage to make the sacrifice she did, and she almost certainly wouldn't have been in the right place at the right time. At last, gaining the vantage of the moon she had always envied, Yue understood why she met Sokka and loved him. She'd never told him, afraid that it would only make matters worse.

Yue only wished that she had not had to hurt Sokka so much, but she hoped that he would one day also understand that she needed him to find the strength within herself to fulfill her destiny. He brought her the world of which she had always dreamed, and now, she would be able to look down on it forever.

_Or do you still wait for me, dream-giver,  
Just around the riverbend?_

Author's Note: I think the romance between Sokka and Yue is both beautiful and sad. Even though it's over, I find that I enjoy writing about it.


End file.
